Rio De Janeiro Flag

Composition

The flag has white background and a diagonal blue cross (the saltire, or a St. Andrew’s cross), in the middle of which the coat of arms is situated. The city’s coat of arms is a red field with three silver arrows crossing the silver armillary sphere with a silver Phrygian cap placed in the middle. Above the shield (the so-called crest) is a five-pointed mural crown (a type of crown resembling a tower wall), from the both sides are mirrored red dolphins. Beside the right dolphin is a laurel branch, and beside the left one – an oak branch.

History

Also known as “flag of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro” (flag of Saint Sebastian of Rio de Janeiro), Rio De Janeiro flag was adopted on July 8, 1908. From 1908 to 1957, when Rio was part of the Federal District of Brazil, the flag looked a bit different from what we see today. The colours remained, but the coat of arms changed: it used to depict a ship with a red sail. The sail contained the picture with an armillary sphere and was also crowned and supported by dolphins. From 1960 to 1975, when the municipality of Rio de Janeiro was re-established as Guanabara State, the flag was changed (see the picture below).

Colours

The main colours – white and blue – were adopted as the traditional colours of the Portuguese monarchy. The first ever symbol of Portugal, created in 1097, was a blue cross on a white field.
All of the elements of the coat of arms are red to symbolise the blood of Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of Rio de Janeiro, as well as the blood of Estácio de Sá, the city’s founder, and the early settlers.
The heraldic colours, known as the tinctures, were altered from that used on the traditional coat of arms. It has a blue field, golden arrows and a sphere, a red Phrygian cap, silver dolphins, green leaves, and the gold mural crown.

In Conclusion

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